REFUSAL to sign up to the national identity card scheme will be punished with a civil fine of up to é2,500, the government announced last night.

And those who do register for a card will face a é1,000 penalty if they fail to notify the government when they move house, under proposals drawn up by Home Secretary David Blunkett.

The ID Cards Bill, published in the Commons, outlined a raft of measures aimed at ensuring there are no abuses of the proposed é3 billion identity card scheme.

Civil servants who tamper with information on the National Identity Register will face up to ten years in jail while anyone who passes on details from the register could be jailed for two years.

Prime Minister Tony Blair told MPs in the Commons the penalties were intended to protect civil liberties, not endanger them.

Although the ID cards will not have to be carried by the holder, there are stiff penalties for people who break the rules. Up to two years in prison, or a fine or both, for people who fraudulently obtain an identity card and two years in jail for possessing false identity documents

The Government plans to issue credit-card sized biometric ID cards to anyone applying for, or renewing, a passport after 2007, with a charge of é85.

The Government says the ID Card Bill will reduce illegal migration and illegal working, enhance the UK's ability to counter terrorism and serious and organised crime, reduce identity fraud and root out fraud in benefit claims.

ID cards will be compulsory for everyone over 16 who is legally resident in the UK for three months or more. Tony Blair told MPs yesterday it would apply gradually from 2008.

Tampering

The main features of the Bill are a new National Identity Register of basic personal information, powers to used identity cards both as free-standing cards and linked to the issue of designated identity documents such as passports.

The ID cards will also, say the government, enable public and private groups to verify a person's identity by checking a card. There will be a watchdog to check up on the operation of the scheme.

Tony Blair said the government took people's privacy and freedom very seriously, which was why there would be ten year jail sentences for tampering with ID information.

Mr Blair said the ID cards would not be a silver bullet to defeat terrorism, but they were an important weapon in the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

He added: "This is not a Big Brother government. ID cards will make our borders more secure, will make our free public services and benefits system more secure and help protect civil liberties, not erode them.

"In today's world, faced with the problems we have of illegal immigration, illegal working, terrorism and security, we might as well give ourselves full-blown security cards," said Mr Blair.

But the ID Cards Bill can expect a rough ride through parliament, with Liberal Democrats opposed, Tories split and some Labour MPs worried about the implications for civil liberties.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten said nearly a quarter of a million passports are lost or stolen each year and if this happened with ID cards, needed for such things as appointments with the GP, there would be chaos.

Immigration Minister Des Browne said the scheme would cost around é3.1 billion over ten years.